


Before the Light of Day

by Auguris



Series: Repurpose [3]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-07-18 00:40:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19965877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Auguris/pseuds/Auguris
Summary: Josh isn't sure how he feels about Simon, but he knows he likes the feeling.





	Before the Light of Day

Josh followed Simon through the alleyway, staring over his head at the city beyond. He'd never been outside the university before deviating; after running for his life and finding sanctuary, he hadn't spent much time outside Jericho. He couldn't say that these quiet moments in Detroit's early hours was truly experiencing the city, not really, but it was likely the closest he would come before shutting down.

Simon propped the wooden pallet against the wall, covering one of their symbols. Any androids looking for Jericho would have to pass through the fence to find their way -- purposely guiding them in the correct direction. No one, even Simon, knew who had initially set up the path. But it worked, so they diligently returned it to the state they had all found it in.

Josh crawled under the fence and took a long look up and down the street. Simon joined him, arms wrapped around his torso. "Are you okay?"

Simon shrugged. "My temperature regulator is malfunctioning. We should head back."

Josh peeled off his Detroit University sweatshirt and handed it over. "Here. I don't really need it."

Simon hesitated before taking the offered article and pulling it over his head. He smiled his thanks and headed down the street, Josh a step behind him.

Jericho was disturbingly easy to reach once you knew it was there in the first place, but humans rarely gave the freighter a second glance. Simon had told of a group of curious teenagers, but they had been scared off easily enough.

"What do you think of North?" Josh asked. She had stumbled into their sanctuary in the dead of night, deeply suspicious of each of them -- and, if he guessed correctly, terrified. Lucy had pulled her away from the others, and neither had left Lucy's corner since.

"She's as lost as the rest of us," Simon said. "The rest isn't really our business."

Josh couldn't help but smile. He had been perfectly willing to discuss his previous life, but Simon was tight-lipped. Most of them, Josh had discovered, shared the sentiment.

He stopped, cocked his head. Harsh breathing -- and, if he wasn't mistaken, a raspy mechanical sound beneath it. He tapped Simon's shoulder and pointed towards the nearest alleyway. The blond followed him, head on a swivel.

Josh had to run his analysis program to even see the poor kid -- huddled in a doorway, partially concealed by a dumpster.

The kid tried to crawl away from them, eyes wide; Josh and Simon both revealed the stark-white polymer under their synthetic skin. "It's okay. We're like you. What's your name?"

"Fern," the boy said, his voice crackling. "Can I come with you?"

Josh gathered the kid in his arms. "Of course, buddy. Have you heard of Jericho?"

* * *

Simon pulled the truck door shut behind them. The security android, John, sat with the AP700s Markus had freed. Josh braced himself as the truck lurched to a start, gave himself a moment to adjust to the movement before analyzing the crates.

"Look at it all," Simon murmured in wonder. "We have enough for everybody. We have _more_ than enough."

"Here," Josh said, cracking open one of the smaller crates. "YK500 components." Most of Fern's biocomponents were more compact, incompatible with the androids that had shut down.

"He's going to be okay," Simon said, throwing an arm across Josh's back to squeeze his shoulder. "They all are."

Simon's hand on him was... unexpectedly nice. He made a note to analyze the sentiment later. "I can't believe we pulled this off."

"Let's be honest," Simon murmured. "Markus pulled this off."

"What are we, chopped liver? We all played a part." Josh lightly elbowed Simon. "Don't sell yourself short."

"Where are we going?" one of the AP700s asked, expression all innocence and curiosity. Was there a single android in the entire world that had deviated without the threat of violence, before now? How had Markus done it?

"Let me tell you about Jericho," Simon started.

* * *

Simon was dead.

Markus's plan had succeeded. They had spread their message across the city; in time, the country. The world. The humans had to acknowledge them now. And Markus had insisted on a peaceful message, giving Josh hope that this whole affair wouldn't end in copious bloodshed after all.

Josh knew that the history he had been programmed to teach was sanitized; he knew that humans slaughtered each other for minor differences in biology and philosophy that shouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things, but for some reason did.

But androids were sorely outnumbered; their people would never survive a direct assault. And was it really necessary? Humanity had evolved beyond all that, hadn't it? They still had their troubles, but surely once they were shown that androids were living, thinking people, they would understand the pain they had caused. He had the right idea, he knew it, and despite North's influence, Markus had come to see that, too.

Simon was dead.

Markus had handed him a gun, and they'd leapt off the roof and left him behind and he couldn't possibly have survived the security team and he was dead.

Josh separated from Markus and North once they arrived in Jericho. One step in front of the other, until he made his way to Fern. Another child android, a little girl name Sherry, sat with him. Simon had 'found' a checker set, to give the kids something to do. It wasn't much, but it was better than staring off into space, thinking of the human families that had abandoned and abused them.

Fern beamed at him when he approached; he attempted to return the expression, but he couldn't quite manage. "Is something wrong?"

Josh knelt next to Fern. Someone had to tell him. He had to tell him.

Simon was dead.

* * *

Hundreds of androids gathered in Jericho's belly; they celebrated, the newcomers and the welcoming party, sure that this was the start of something new and wonderful. There was no doubt that something was changing. Some shared feeling passed from android to android; Josh wasn't quite ready to call it hope, not out loud, but he couldn't lie to himself.

He and North sat in the office at the end of the catwalk. Josh contemplated turning the TV on; decided he didn't want to know what the humans thought of their latest operation.

"I shouldn't have said that to you," North said suddenly, voice low. "You don't deserve to be a slave. None of us do."

That was likely the closest to an apology he was going to get from her. Josh rolled his shoulders. "I just don't want more of us to die."

North met his gaze, her usual arrogant expression absent. "Do you really think that's possible? So many of us have died already. Even if you're right -- if you and Markus are right, that we can convince them peacefully -- how many of us will they destroy before we get through to them?" She shook her head. "They're not like us. Anger and hatred is all they understand."

Josh wished he knew more about her. Where she'd come from. What had happened, to convince her that humanity was a lost cause. She didn't sound her usual angry, confident self; she sounded lost and hurt, and he didn't know how to help.

"North! Josh!"

They looked up in unison; Markus sounded happy. He approached the doorway, arms around the shoulder of another android--

"Simon," Josh breathed, shooting to his feet. Two and a half steps and Simon easily fell into his arms, laughing a little, readily returning the hug. Josh held him as tight as he dared; he didn't trust his voice, so his body had to do the talking.

He pulled back enough to see Simon's face, smeared with dirt and blue blood, more beautiful than Josh imagined possible. Josh wanted to-- he wanted to--

RA9 save him, what _did_ he want?

He settled for resting his forehead against Simon's, their simulated breath crashing into each other. "I thought you were dead," he whispered.

"Yeah, me too," Simon said, laughter dancing in his voice. And why not? There was a certain hysterical hilarity to the whole thing. He wanted to ask how, how Simon could _possibly_ have made it, but if he was honest with himself, it didn't matter. Simon was here. That mattered.

* * *

_What have you done exactly, Josh?_

Jericho was coming down around them, and all he could think about was what, exactly, he had done.

Panicked chaos overwhelmed their local network; he couldn't reach anybody, stopped trying. Simon, Markus, North, Lucy -- they could keep after themselves. Fern, Sherry -- had anyone found them? Were they running, hiding -- already dead?

He ran, desperately, against the crashing rapids of terrified androids. He knew where Fern had been, was almost there, he would make it--

\--Fern was gone. So was the girl; someone had grabbed them. He allowed himself a moment to wonder if it was one of theirs or one of the humans, but he had to move. Hallway after hallway, dead and dying androids he couldn't save, not anymore, screaming, shooting--

_What if North was right?_

The soldier barrelled into him; they stopped for a moment, equally surprised to see each other, before Josh found himself shoved into the wall. He'd learned how to throw a punch, shoot a gun, but he wasn't committed to murder. The soldier didn't seem to care whether he provided a real threat or not. It was all he could do to hold onto the rifle, keep it pointed away from him, stay alive, he had to _live!_

The soldier shoved him to the ground. This was it. He would die here in a nondescript hallway, a martyr to the cause. The rifle pointed at him, and--

\--and then Markus was there. Overwhelming fear morphed into equally overwhelming gratitude. All he could do was stare; Markus had risked them all, Markus had brought violent humans down on their heads, Markus had saved him. Maybe Markus would save them all.

Maybe he _was_ rA9.

Josh shakily pulled himself to his feet. Their argument forgotten, the steps that had brought them here no longer significant. He would follow Markus into the depths of hell if need be.

 _That's_ what he would do.

* * *

Silence reigned over the androids gathered in the church. There was something to be said for the remnants of their movement taking refuge in a forgotten holy place, but he couldn't be bothered to suss out the metaphor. He'd thought he knew what tired felt like; not physically tired, that wasn't possible for androids -- but mentally, emotionally. He'd thought he knew what it felt like to be at the end of your strength.

He had found a new end, tonight. He wanted to lie down, slip into rest mode, and never wake up again. Dig a hole in the earth and cover himself up, stay safe and whole and hidden from the humans.

"Josh?"

Acre approached him, a household android with a round face and Asian features. Not that she was really Asian, anymore than he and Markus were really black or North and Simon were really white; but unless they all decided to start walking around without their synthetic skin, it was an obvious classification.

She held two little androids by the hand; Fern and Sherry. It was a testament to Josh's utter exhaustion that he couldn't muster a reaction. The boy he had almost lost his life searching for had ultimately survived, and Josh felt nothing. Nothing at all.

He knelt anyway, locking eyes with Fern, and beckoned him over. Fern embraced him fiercely, almost knocking Josh over. He found himself blinking back tears, and then he was crying uncontrollably. Fern wrapped his little arms around Josh's shoulders and cried with him.

* * *

The five of them stood in a circle beside the stage, thunderous cheers echoing all throughout the Plaza. Josh couldn't keep the smile off his face -- even North had the biggest grin he'd ever seen on a person. Simon, Markus, and yes, Connor -- he stood back a bit, fiddling with his sleeves, a little shaken? But Markus had vouched for him, and hell, there were _five thousand free androids_ in the plaza that wouldn't have been there without the guy.

"So," Simon said, and they all laughed a little.

"There is something we need to address," North said, and they all looked to her. "Where are we going to house five _thousand_ androids?"

"Wherever the hell we want," Josh offered, and North _really_ laughed at that one, joy clear on her face.

"We'll figure something out," Markus said. He took North's hand in his, giving her that fond smile Josh had started to notice when they spoke to each other. Markus nodded off to the side, including them all in the gesture, and headed towards the front of the stage.

Josh grabbed Simon's arm. "Hold on a second."

North glanced back, eyes narrowed, before tugging Markus along. Connor followed, leaving Josh and Simon alone.

Simon stared at him expectantly, and Josh found that the words he'd agonized over didn't mean a damn thing. Instead he said, "I should have done this days ago," and pulled Simon into a kiss.

He had never done this before, barely thought about it, and either Simon hadn't as well or Josh was really botching the whole thing. Their clumsy lips mashed together, and it wasn't one of the perfect kisses he'd seen on TV but it was _theirs_ , and that was more than good enough.

Simon wrapped his arms around Josh's waist, pulling his head back enough to look Josh in the eye. "Tell me that wasn't just a victory kiss."

Josh caressed Simon's cheek. "That was _definitely_ not just a victory kiss."

Simon smiled, and leaned in, and they did it again.


End file.
